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Sun Beetle
Photo: Tylwyth Eldar, CC BY-SA 4.0
Other Inverts
Beginner
Pachnoda marginata
Lifespan
Larva 3-5 mo, adult 2-6 mo
Adult size
Body 20-30 mm
Temperament
Harmless, active by day, flies
Temperature
20–28°C
Humidity
50–70%
Vivarium
30 x 20 x 30 cm (small group, 10 cm soil)
Wikipedia →
A flower chafer from west and central Africa, where adults feed on ripe and rotting fruit. Adults are 20-30 mm long; the common subspecies P. m. peregrina is pale yellow with brown spots, while others are red or orange. Easy to breed, day-active and safe to handle, it is the classic UK beginner beetle, and its larvae are also sold as livefood. Adults fly, so use a secure lid.
Care information is provided for educational purposes only and does not replace professional veterinary advice.
🔥 Heating
Keep the enclosure at about 20-25 °C; a low-wattage lamp can give adults a 30-35 °C basking spot while the rest stays cooler. Larvae develop best at about 25 °C (range 20-28 °C).
💡 Lighting
Day-active, so give a 12-hour day; no UVB is needed.
🪨 Substrate
About 10 cm of moist, chemical-free soil or coco fibre mixed with leaf litter and rotting hardwood, kept like a freshly opened bag of compost; larvae need roughly 1 litre of substrate each.
🍽 Feeding
Adults: soft ripe fruit (banana, apple, mango, berries) or beetle jelly, replaced every 1-2 days. Larvae: rotting leaves and wood in the substrate, plus some fruit and moistened dry cat food.
💧 Water
No dish needed; moisture comes from fruit and a lightly sprayed substrate, which should never be soaked.
🏠 Enrichment
Bark and twigs to climb, a humid hiding place under wood, and deep soil for burrowing and egg-laying.
🩺 Health Considerations
Larvae pupate in the substrate for about 5 weeks, so avoid digging them up at that stage. A diet of the same fruit every day can cause deficiencies, and leftover fruit attracts fruit flies and mould.
🤲 Handling
Very tolerant of handling: let it walk onto your hand and expect it to fly off. Harmless.
⚖️ Legal Restrictions
No licence needed in the UK; it is not CITES-listed or a GB invasive species of special concern. As a non-native animal it must never be released (Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, section 14).
📋 Additional Notes
Three subspecies are common: P. m. peregrina (yellow with brown spots), P. m. marginata (red) and P. m. aurantia (orange); keep them separate to avoid hybrids. Larvae grow to about 4-6 cm and take 3-5 months to develop; adults then live 2-6 months. Pairs breed readily in the conditions above.